Molding Hook and Loop Fastener

ABSTRACT

Provided is a molding hook and loop fastener, in which a barrier erected near left and right side edges of a substrate includes at least two rows of vertical wall arrays, and the vertical wall array includes a plurality of vertical walls disposed alternately. Between the two adjacent, rows of the vertical walls disposed alternately, each of the vertical walls disposed on one row is connected to two vertical walls disposed on the other row via a connecting part, and the connecting part connects one end portion of one vertical wall disposed on the adjacent row and the other end portion of the other vertical wall. Due to this, in the molding hook and loop fastener an outer side and an inner side of the barrier can be divided by the vertical wall array and the connecting part, and flexibility of the molding hook and loop fastener can be improved.

This application is a divisional application of U.S. application Ser.No. 13/818,661, which is a national stage application ofPCT/JP2010/064196, both of which are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to a molding hook and loop fastener in which aplurality of engaging elements are disposed on one surface of a planarsubstrate portion and which is integrally molded to a foam body when thefoam body is molded. More specifically, the invention relates to amolding hook and loop fastener capable of preventing a molding resinmaterial from entering into an engaging element forming region of asubstrate portion when a foam body is molded.

BACKGROUND ART

A cushion body is included in skin materials of passenger seats ofautomobiles or trains, various kinds of sofas, office chairs, and thelike. As this cushion body, a molded body called rock wool, for example,which is obtained by entangling palm fibers and flax or stiff fiberssuch as thick synthetic fibers and hardening the same using rubber orthe like, or a molded body (foam body) made from various kinds ofexpandable resin materials are used.

These cushion bodies have a curved face composed of convex and concaveshapes satisfying ergonomic factors in order to maintain a seatingposture which provides no fatigue despite long-hour seating. If it isintended to effectively manufacture the cushion bodies having such acomplicated surface shape in large quantities considering its cushionperformance, the aforementioned rock wool that requires a number ofmanufacturing processes cannot meet the demand.

In contrast, cushion bodies made from expandable resins have been usedwidely because it can be manufactured in a single process and variousshapes can be obtained easily. That is, the cushion body made fromexpandable resins is molded into a desired shape at the same time asexpansion molding when an expandable resin material such as expandableurethane resin is flown into a mold.

Further, the surface of the cushion body molded in this manner isgenerally deposited with a skin material such as various kinds of fibercloth or natural or synthetic leather. In order to deposit the skinmaterial on the surface of the cushion body, either a means for allowinga skin material to be adsorbed along a cavity surface of a mold andflowing an expandable resin material into the mold so that the cushionbody is integrated with the rear surface of the skin material at thesame time as molding of the cushion body or a means for molding acushion body into a desired shape and covering and fixing a skinmaterial to the surface of the cushion body has been employed.

In the case of using the means of integrating at the time of molding, asmentioned above, when a skin material is set along the inner surface ofthe mold, the skin material is adsorbed along the inner surface of themold using an adsorption means. However, in order to deform the skinmaterial so as to conform to the surface of the cushion body having acomplex surface shape as described above, the skin material itself needsto be a material that has excellent elasticity. However, since there isa limit in the elasticity depending on a material, when the surfaceshape of the cushion body is complex, a number of wrinkles are likely tooccur between the seating surface and the peripheral side surface inparticular, and a lot of efforts have to be made to correct this.

According to this means, since the cushion body and the skin materialare integrated on the entire surface, for example, when a strong forceis applied in a direction where the skin material is shifted on thesurface of the cushion body during use, a shearing force is appliedbetween the skin material and the cushion body, a portion of the cushionbody may be broken and the skin material may be separated. Further, amaterial that can be used as the skin material is naturally limited inorder to eliminate the occurrence of wrinkles, and it is preferable toallow a slight movement between the skin material and the cushion bodyso that an excessive force is not applied between the skin material andthe cushion body. Thus, instead of using the means for integrating theskin material at the same time as molding of the cushion body, a meansof molding the cushion body in a desired shape and covering the obtainedcushion body with the skin material has become popular.

In the case of covering the skin material on the cushion body made froman expandable resin material, a method of using a molding hook and loopfastener made from a thermoplastic resin is generally used. For example,first, a molding hook and loop fastener having a plurality of engagingelements (male engaging elements) is set on a cavity surface of a moldthat performs molding of the cushion body. At this time, the moldinghook and loop fastener is placed and fixed to a projecting surfaceportion on a bottom surface of the mold corresponding to a depressedsurface of the cushion body so that an engaging element forming surfaceof the molding hook and loop fastener faces the projecting surfaceportion.

Subsequently, by expansion-molding the cushion body by an expandableresin material being flown into the mold in which the molding hook andloop fastener is set, at the same time as the molding of the cushionbody, the molding hook and loop fastener is embedded in and integratedwith the depressed surface of the cushion body in a state where theengaging elements are exposed to the outside. During this expansionmolding, it is important to prevent the expandable resin material of thecushion body from flowing up to the engaging element forming region ofthe molding hook and loop fastener.

The skin material made from various kinds of materials such as pilewoven/knit fabric, natural leather and synthetic leather which arepreviously formed in a bag shape corresponding to the outer shape of thecushion body is covered on the surface of the cushion body obtained bythe expansion molding described above. In this case, the female engagingelements disposed on the rear surface of the skin material are pressedagainst the engaging element forming surface of the molding hook andloop fastener that is integrated with the cushion body so that the skinmaterial is fastened along the depressed surface of the cushion body. Inthis way, the skin material is prevented from floating from the cushionbody.

In expansion molding for integrating the molding hook and loop fastenerinto the cushion body, a technique of preventing the expandable resinmaterial from entering into the engaging element forming region of themolding hook and loop fastener during molding of the cushion body isdisclosed, for example, in JP 2005-211198 A (Patent Document 1), WO2010/016122 A (Patent Document 2), and U.S. Pat. No. 6,720,059 (PatentDocument 3), and the like.

A molding hook and loop fastener disclosed in Patent Document 1 includesa planar substrate, first resin-entrance preventing walls disposed onleft and right side edges along the length direction of the substrate, anumber of engaging elements disposed between the first left and rightresin-entrance preventing walls, and a second resin-entrance preventingwall that is disposed in a width direction of the substrate so as topartition the engaging elements into necessary regions in the lengthdirection of the substrate.

In the molding hook and loop fastener disclosed in Patent Document 1,three rows of vertical wall arrays are disposed alternately in the firstresin-entrance preventing wall, and a divided vertical wall piece havinga height dimension smaller than that of the vertical wall array isdisposed between the three rows of vertical wall arrays. Further, theengaging element of which the engaging head extends back and front inthe length direction is disposed to be integrated with the secondresin-entrance preventing wall.

According to the molding hook and loop fastener disclosed in PatentDocument 1, due to the first resin-entrance preventing wall disposed toextend in the length direction of the substrate and the secondresin-entrance preventing wall disposed in the width direction of thesubstrate, it is possible to prevent a foaming resin material fromentering into the engaging element forming region of the substrate whenthe cushion body is expansion-molded.

In particular, in Patent Document 1, the vertical wall arrays of eachrow that constitute the first resin-entrance preventing wall aredisposed intermittently, and the vertical wall arrays of the adjacentrows are disposed in such a positional relation that the vertical wallarrays overlap in the width direction. Due to this, the gaps between thevertical wall arrays of the first resin-entrance preventing wall areformed in a zigzag form while appropriately maintaining the flexibilityof the molding hook and loop fastener. Even if the foaming resinmaterial tries to enter into the engaging element forming region of thesubstrate through the gaps of the first resin-entrance preventing wallwhen the cushion body is expansion-molded, it is possible to easily stopthe entrance of the foaming resin material in the middle of the gapsformed in a zigzag form in the first resin-entrance preventing wall.Further, in Patent Document 1, since the second resin-entrancepreventing wall itself includes the engaging elements, it is possible toprevent a decrease in the bonding strength between the molding hook andloop fastener and the skin material due to the presence of the secondresin-entrance preventing wall.

On the other hand, a molding hook and loop fastener disclosed in PatentDocument 2 includes a planar substrate, resin-entrance preventing wallsdisposed on left and right side edges along a length direction of thesubstrate, a number of engaging elements disposed between the left andright resin-entrance preventing walls, and a linear magnetic bodydisposed along the length direction of the substrate. Moreover, each ofthe left and right resin-entrance preventing walls includes a pair offirst and second magnetic body clamping portions that is disposed at apredetermined interval along the length direction of the substrate so asto clamp the linear magnetic body, an outer wall portion disposed on anouter side of the first and second magnetic body clamping portions, anda supporting portion that supports, from below, the linear magnetic bodyprotruding from the surface of the substrate and clamped by the firstand second magnetic body clamping portions.

According to the molding hook and loop fastener of Patent Document 2,since the linear magnetic body is clamped by the first and secondmagnetic body clamping portions and is supported by the supportingportion from below, the linear magnetic body can be disposed near thedistal ends of the first and second magnetic body clamping portionslocated distant from the substrate. Thus, when magnets are embedded at afastener mounting position of a mold, for example, if the linearmagnetic body of the molding hook and loop fastener is disposed near thedistal ends of the first and second magnetic body clamping portions asdescribed above, since the attracting force between the magnets of themold and the linear magnetic body of the molding hook and loop fastenerbecomes strong, the molding hook and loop fastener can be properlyadhered to and held by the mold. As a result, it is possible to preventthe occurrence of a gap between the molding hook and loop fastener andthe cavity surface of the mold and to effectively suppress the foamingresin material from entering into the engaging element forming region ofthe substrate.

In Patent Document 3, preventing wall portions having various shapes forpreventing a foaming resin material from entering into an engagingelement forming region of a substrate are proposed as the resin-entrancepreventing walls disposed on the left and right side edges of a planarsubstrate.

PRIOR ART DOCUMENT Patent Document

Patent Document 1: JP 2005-211198 A

Patent Document 2: WO 2010/016122 A

Patent Document 3: U.S. Pat. No. 6,720,059

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problem to be Solved by the Invention

For example, in a passenger seat of an automobile, an appropriatelycurved convex and concave surface is formed on the surface of the seat,and various convex and concave surfaces are also formed on the cushionbody used in the seat in order to secure a seating posture that isconsidered to be most favorable from ergonomic viewpoints. Thus, whenthe molding hook and loop fastener as disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to3, for example, is integrally molded to the convex and concave surfaceof the cushion body, the molding hook and loop fastener is mounted andfixed to a curved cavity surface of the mold, and the cushion body isexpansion-molded.

In this case, in order to prevent the expandable resin material fromentering into the engaging element forming region of the molding hookand loop fastener when the cushion body is molded, it is necessary toadhere the molding hook and loop fastener to the cavity surface in astate where the molding hook and loop fastener is curved so as to followthe convex and concave shape of the cavity surface (surface fasteneradsorbing surface).

However, in the conventional molding hook and loop fastener as disclosedin Patent Documents 1 to 3, since the resin-entrance preventing wall isdisposed to extend in the length direction of the substrate, theflexibility (bendability) of the molding hook and loop fastener may beimpaired. Thus, for example, if the curvedness (that is, a change rateof inclination of the curved surface) of the fastener adsorbing surfaceof the mold increases, it is difficult to adhere the entire molding hookand loop fastener to the surface fastener adsorbing surface of the mold,and the end portions in the length direction of the molding hook andloop fastener may float.

When the molding hook and loop fastener floats from the fasteneradsorbing surface of the mold, the expandable resin material enters intothe gap between the mold and the molding hook and loop fastener when thecushion body is expansion-molded, and the expandable resin materialenters into the engaging element forming region of the molding hook andloop fastener. As a result, since the engaging elements of the moldinghook and loop fastener are covered with the expandable resin, it isdifficult to obtain a desired coupling strength between the skinmaterial and the molding hook and loop fastener that is moldedintegrally with the cushion body.

The invention has been made in view of the conventional problems, and aspecific object of the invention is to provide a molding hook and loopfastener capable of stably adhering to a cavity surface of a expansionmolding mold even when the cavity surface is greatly curved, preventingan expandable resin material from entering into an engaging elementforming region, and stably securing a desired coupling strength betweenthe molding hook and loop fastener and other members such as a skinmaterial.

Means for Solving the Problems

In order to attain the object, a molding hook and loop fasteneraccording to the invention includes, as a basic configuration, a planarsubstrate made from a thermoplastic resin and including a first surfaceand a second surface opposite to the first surface; barriers erected onthe first surface near left and right side edges along a lengthdirection of the substrate; and a plurality of engaging elementsdisposed between the left and right barriers, in which each of the leftand right barriers includes at least two rows of vertical wall arrays,the vertical wall array of each row includes a plurality of verticalwalls that are disposed intermittently in the length direction and arealternately disposed between the adjacent vertical wall arrays, and themolding hook and loop fastener is molded integrally with a foam body atthe same time as molding of the foam body, mainly characterized in that:between two adjacent rows of vertical walls disposed alternately, eachof the vertical walls disposed on one row is connected to two verticalwalls disposed on the other row via a connecting part, and theconnecting part connects one end portion in the length direction of thevertical wall disposed on one of the adjacent rows and the other endportion in the length direction of the vertical wall disposed on theother row.

In particular, it is preferable that the connecting part be configuredto connect one end portion in the length direction of the vertical walldisposed on one of the adjacent rows and the other end portion in thelength direction of the vertical wall disposed on the other row at sucha position that the vertical walls are closest to each other.

Moreover, it is preferable that the connecting part have the same heightdimension as a height dimension of the vertical wall from the substrate.

In the molding hook and loop fastener according to the invention, it ispreferable that each vertical wall include a post portion erected fromthe substrate and a upper surface portion disposed at an upper end ofthe post portion so as to protrude in the length direction and a widthdirection of the substrate more than the upper end of the post portion.

In this case, it is particularly preferable that a dimension in thelength direction of a boundary portion between the post portion and theupper surface portion of the vertical wall in the vertical wall array ofeach row be set to be the same as a dimension in the length direction ofa gap between the boundary portions of the two vertical walls disposedadjacently in the vertical wall arrays of the adjacent rows or be set tobe smaller than the dimension in the length direction of the gap.

Further, in the molding hook and loop fastener according to theinvention, it is preferable that the engaging elements be disposed at apredetermined mounting pitch in the length direction of the substrate,and a mounting pitch of the vertical walls disposed in the vertical wallarray of each row is set to be equal to or smaller than ½ of themounting pitch of the engaging elements.

Further, in the molding hook and loop fastener according to theinvention, it is preferable that the sum of areas of the upper surfacesof all of the vertical walls included in the barrier be set to be from39% to 95% in relation to a barrier arrangement area that is calculatedby the product between a dimension in the length direction of thebarrier and a dimension from an inner wall surface of the vertical wallarray of the barrier, disposed closest to the engaging element to anouter wall surface of the vertical wall array disposed on an outermostside.

Furthermore, in the molding hook and loop fastener according to theinvention, it is preferable that the engaging elements be disposed at apredetermined pitch in a width direction of the substrate, a lateralwall portion is disposed along the width direction between the barrierand the engaging elements and between the engaging elements that areadjacent in the width direction, and an upper surface of the verticalwall array be disposed on the same plane as an upper surface of thelateral wall portion.

Effect of the Invention

The molding hook and loop fastener according to the invention includesthe planar substrate, the barriers that are erected near the left andright side edges of the substrate and include at least two vertical wallarrays, the plurality of engaging elements disposed between the left andright barriers, and the connecting part that connects the vertical wallarrays disposed on the adjacent rows, in which the vertical wall arraysof each row include the plurality of vertical walls that is disposedintermittently in the length direction and is alternately disposedbetween the adjacent vertical wall arrays. Here, an alternatearrangement of vertical walls includes a staggered arrangement or azigzag arrangement of vertical walls.

Moreover, between the vertical walls alternately disposed in twoadjacent rows of vertical wall arrays, each of the vertical wallsdisposed on one row is connected to two vertical walls disposedadjacently on the other row via the connecting part. In this case, eachconnecting part connects one end portion in the length direction of thevertical wall disposed on one of the adjacent rows and the other endportion in the length direction of the vertical wall disposed on theother row.

In this manner, if each of the vertical walls that form the verticalwall arrays of each row is connected to two vertical walls disposedadjacently on the adjacent rows via the connecting part at the endportions in the longitudinal direction, even when the vertical walls ofthe adjacent rows are not disposed in such a positional relationshipthat the rows of vertical walls overlap greatly with each other in thewidth direction as in the molding hook and loop fastener disclosed inPatent Document 1, for example, the vertical wall array and theconnecting part can prevent a foaming resin material from entering intoan engaging element forming region when a foam body is expansion-molded.In the invention, the engaging element forming region means a region inwhich the plurality of engaging elements is formed on the first surfaceof the substrate and which is surrounded by the left and right barriers.

As above, in the invention, since a region in which the vertical wallsdisposed in the vertical wall arrays of the adjacent rows overlappingeach other can be decreased as much as possible, it is possible toimprove flexibility (bendability) of the molding hook and loop fastener.Thus, the molding hook and loop fastener can be bent in the verticaldirection (height direction) along the length direction of thesubstrate, for example, easier than the conventional art.

Thus, even when a cavity surface of an expansion molding mold used formolding a foam body, for example, is greatly curved, the molding hookand loop fastener according to the invention can be stably adhered tothe cavity surface in a state of being bent conforming to the curvedshape of the cavity surface. Thus, it is possible to prevent theoccurrence of a gap between the barrier of the molding hook and loopfastener and the cavity surface of the mold.

Due to this, in the molding hook and loop fastener according to theinvention, even when the cavity surface is curved greatly, it ispossible to reliably prevent the expandable resin material from enteringinto the engaging element forming region by flowing over the barrier ofthe molding hook and loop fastener when the foam body isexpansion-molded. Thus, it is possible to stably maintain the inherentcoupling strength (fastening strength) of the plurality of engagingelements formed in the molding hook and loop fastener.

In the invention, one end portion and the other end portion in thelength direction of the vertical wall array are defined in such a waythat, for example, when one vertical wall array is evenly divided intothree portions of a front end portion, an intermediate portion, and arear end portion so as to have an equal length dimension, the one endportion and the other end portion mean the front end portion and therear end portion of the vertical wall array, in the length direction ofthe molding hook and loop fastener.

Thus, the fact that between two adjacent rows of vertical walls, theconnecting part connects one end portion in the length direction of thevertical wall disposed on one row and the other end portion in thelength direction of the vertical wall disposed on the other row meansthat a front end portion of the vertical wall disposed on one row isconnected to a rear end portion of the vertical wall disposed on theother row, and a rear end portion of the vertical wall disposed on onerow is connected to a front end portion of the vertical wall disposed onthe other row. In particular, in this case, it is preferable that theconnecting part connect a front edge (or a rear edge) in the lengthdirection of the vertical wall disposed on one row and a rear edge (or afront edge) in the length direction of the vertical wall disposed on theother row.

Further, in the invention, it is preferable that the connecting partconnect one end portion in the length direction of the vertical walldisposed in the vertical wall array of each row and the other endportion in the length direction of the vertical wall disposed in thevertical wall array of the adjacent row so that the vertical walls onboth rows are connected with the smallest distance. That is, when theconnecting part connects one end portion in the length direction of thevertical wall disposed on one of the adjacent rows and the other endportion in the length direction of the vertical wall disposed on theother row at such a position that the vertical walls on the rows areclosest to each other, it is possible to decrease the influence of theconnecting part on the flexibility of the molding hook and loop fastenerand to prevent the flexibility of the molding hook and loop fastenerfrom being impaired.

Moreover, in the invention, the connecting part has the same heightdimension as the height dimension of the vertical wall from thesubstrate. Due to this, in the range of the height dimension of thevertical wall erected from the substrate, an outer side (outer surfaceside) of the barrier and an inner side (inner surface side) where theengaging elements of the barrier are disposed are completely separatedby the vertical wall array and the connecting part. Thus, it is possibleto reliably prevent the foaming resin material from entering into theengaging element forming region when the foam body is expansion-molded.

In the molding hook and loop fastener according to the invention, eachvertical wall includes the post portion erected from the substrate andthe upper surface portion disposed at the upper end of the post portionso as to protrude in the length direction and the width direction of thesubstrate more than the upper end of the post portion. Due to this, whenthe molding hook and loop fastener is adhered to the cavity surface ofthe mold, it is possible to increase an adhesion area between the uppersurface portion of each of the vertical walls disposed in the moldinghook and loop fastener and the cavity surface of the mold to improveadhesion properties of the molding hook and loop fastener. As a result,it is possible to more reliably prevent the expandable resin materialfrom entering into the engaging element forming region by flowing overthe barrier of the molding hook and loop fastener when the foam body isexpansion-molded.

In this case, the dimension in the length direction of the boundaryportion between the post portion and the upper surface portion of thevertical wall in the vertical wall array of each row is set to be thesame as the dimension in the length direction of the gap between theboundary portions of the two vertical walls disposed adjacently in thevertical wall arrays of the adjacent rows or is set to be smaller thanthe dimension in the length direction of the gap. Due to this, it ispossible to form the barrier while decreasing the overlapped portions ofthe vertical walls disposed in the vertical wall arrays of the adjacentrows. Thus, it is possible to decrease the dimension in the substantialwidth direction of the barrier and to further improve the flexibility ofthe molding hook and loop fastener.

Further, in the molding hook and loop fastener according to theinvention, the engaging elements are disposed at a predeterminedmounting pitch in the length direction of the substrate, and themounting pitch of the vertical walls disposed in the vertical wall arrayof each row is set to be equal to or smaller than ½ of the mountingpitch of the engaging elements. Since the mounting pitch of the verticalwalls is set in this manner, it is possible to decrease the dimension inthe length direction of each vertical wall, and to form at least twogaps between the vertical walls of the vertical wall array of each rowfor each mounting pitch of the engaging elements. Thus, it is possibleto further improve the flexibility of the molding hook and loopfastener.

If the mounting pitch of the vertical walls is too small, an arrangementdensity of the connecting parts that connect the vertical wall arrays ofthe adjacent rows increases too much, which may impair the flexibilityof the molding hook and loop fastener. Thus, it is preferable that themounting pitch of the vertical wall arrays disposed on each row is setto be equal to or more than ¼ of the mounting pitch of the engagingelements.

Further, in the molding hook and loop fastener according to theinvention, the sum of areas of the upper surfaces of all of the verticalwalls included in the barrier is set to be from 39% to 95% in relationto a barrier arrangement area that is calculated by the product betweena dimension in the length direction of the barrier and a dimension froman inner wall surface of the vertical wall array of the barrier,disposed closest to the engaging element to an outer wall surface of thevertical wall array disposed on an outermost side.

As above, since the sum of areas of the upper surfaces of all of thevertical walls is equal to or more than 39% of the barrier arrangementarea of the molding hook and loop fastener, when the molding hook andloop fastener is adhered to the cavity surface of the mold, the adhesionproperties for the adhering molding hook and loop fastener to the cavitysurface of the mold are improved. Thus, it is possible to effectivelyprevent the expandable resin material from entering into the engagingelement forming region when the foam body is expansion-molded. Moreover,since the sum of areas of the upper surfaces of all of the verticalwalls is equal to or smaller than 95% of the barrier arrangement area ofthe molding hook and loop fastener, it is possible to stably secure theflexibility of the molding hook and loop fastener.

Furthermore, in the molding hook and loop fastener according to theinvention, the engaging elements are disposed at a predetermined pitchin a width direction of the substrate, a lateral wall portion isdisposed along the width direction between the barrier and the engagingelements and between the engaging elements that are adjacent in thewidth direction, and an upper surface of the vertical wall array isdisposed on the same plane as an upper surface of the lateral wallportion. Due to this, the lateral wall portion and the engaging elementcan prevent the expandable resin material from entering between the leftand right barriers from the end portion sides (that is, the front endportion and rear end portion sides) in the length direction of themolding hook and loop fastener when the molding hook and loop fasteneris adhered to the cavity surface of the mold.

In particular, in this case, even when the molding hook and loopfastener according to the invention is cut into a desired length so asto correspond to the size, shape, and the like of the mold, since thelateral wall portions and the engaging elements are erected at apredetermined interval in the length direction, it is possible toprevent entrance of the expandable resin material at the positions wherethe lateral wall portions and the engaging elements are disposed. Thus,it is possible to prevent a decrease in a coupling strength of theengaging elements of the molding hook and loop fastener.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a molding hook and loop fasteneraccording to a first embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the molding hook and loop fastener.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view along line in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view along line IV-IV in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional views along lines V(a)-V(a) to V(d)-V(d) inFIG. 2, respectively.

FIG. 6 is a schematic explanatory view for explaining a portion of amolding step of the molding hook and loop fastener.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the molding hook and loop fastener,showing a state before an upper surface portion of a vertical wall isformed.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the molding hook and loop fastener,showing a state before an upper surface portion of a vertical wall isformed.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the molding hook and loop fastener,showing a state where the upper surface portion of the vertical wall isformed.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the molding hook and loop fastener,showing a state where the upper surface portion of the vertical wall isformed.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory view for explaining a state where a moldinghook and loop fastener is adhered to a cavity surface having a curvedsurface, of a mold.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory view for explaining a state where a foam bodyis expansion-molded within a mold.

FIG. 13 is an enlarged view showing a portion of a molding hook and loopfastener according to a second embodiment of the invention at anenlarged scale.

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view of the molding hook and loop fastener,showing a state before upper surface portions of a vertical wall and alateral wall portion are formed.

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view of the molding hook and loop fastener,showing a state where the upper surface portions of the vertical walland the lateral wall portion are formed.

MODE(S) FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, modes for carrying out the invention will be described withrespect to embodiments with reference to the drawings. The invention isnot limited to the embodiments described below, and various changes canbe made as long as substantially the same configuration and the samefunction and effect as the invention are implemented are attained.

First Embodiment

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a molding hook and loop fasteneraccording to a first embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a front view of themolding hook and loop fastener. Moreover, FIGS. 3 to 5 arecross-sectional views of the molding hook and loop fastener alongrespective lines illustrated in FIG. 2.

In the following description, a length direction of a substrate of amolding hook and loop fastener will be defined as a front-backdirection, and a width direction of the substrate will be defined as ahorizontal direction. Moreover, a front-rear direction of the substratewill be defined as a vertical direction, and in particular, a directiontoward a side of the substrate where engaging elements are disposed isdefined as an upper direction, and the opposite direction is defined asa lower direction.

A molding hook and loop fastener 1 according to the first embodimentincludes a planar substrate 10, barriers 20 formed on an upper surface(first surface) near the left and right side edges of the substrate 10,a plurality of engaging elements 30 (male engaging elements) disposedbetween the left and right barriers 20, a magnetic body holding portion40 disposed in the inner side of the barriers 20, a lateral wall portion50 disposed along the width direction, and a flange portion 60 providedto extend outward in the width direction from the left and right sideedges of the substrate 10. Further, a linear magnetic body 5 is moldedintegrally with the molding hook and loop fastener 1 in a state wherethe linear magnetic body 5 is held by a magnetic body holding portion 40along the length direction.

The molding hook and loop fastener 1 is formed by injection-molding athermoplastic resin material, and a thermoplastic resin material such asa polyamide resin, a polyester resin, a polypropylene resin, a PVCresin, an ABS resin, or a polyethylene resin can be used as a materialof the molding hook and loop fastener 1.

Moreover, the linear magnetic body 5 that is molded integrally with themolding hook and loop fastener 1 has a circular cross-sectional shapeand is configured to be curved or bent. The linear magnetic body 5 ismade from a material that has magnetically attractable or magneticallyattracting properties, and is preferably made from a material that issofter than the material of the substrate 10 of the molding hook andloop fastener 1.

In this case, examples of the magnetically attractable material of thelinear magnetic body 5 include a mono-filament in which magneticparticles made from alloys of iron, cobalt, nickel, and the like aremixed into a synthetic resin and a metallic twisted thread obtained bybinding and twisting multiple metallic thin wires made from thesealloys. On the other hand, examples of the magnetically attractingmaterial of the linear magnetic body 5 include a magnetized wire rod,specifically, a metallic linear magnet and a linear rubber magnetobtained by impregnating a magnetic iron oxide into rubber andmagnetizing the rubber. In the invention, a thin tape-shaped magneticbody may be used instead of the linear magnetic body.

In the first embodiment, the substrate 10 has such a small thicknessthat the molding hook and loop fastener 1 can be bent in the verticaldirection. Moreover, a flat surface is formed on an upper surface sideof the substrate 10 between the engaging elements 30 that are disposedat a predetermined mounting pitch in the length direction. On the otherhand, a plurality of recess portions 11 (or projecting portions) that isparallel in the length direction is formed on a lower surface side ofthe substrate 10 in order to increase a bonding area between the moldinghook and loop fastener 1 and a foam body described later to increase afastening strength when the molding hook and loop fastener 1 is moldedintegrally with the foam body (cushion body).

In the first embodiment, the left and right barriers 20 are disposed atpositions near the side edges that are located slightly toward the innerside from the left and right side edges of the substrate 10. In theinvention, the positions of the left and right barriers 20 are notparticularly limited as long as the positions are within the region ofthe side edge portion that is formed in a predetermined range (forexample, within 20% of the width dimension of the substrate 10 towardthe inner side from the left or right side edges of the substrate 10)toward the inner side of the substrate 10 from the left or right sideedge of the substrate 10.

Further, each of the left and right barriers 20 includes three rows ofvertical wall arrays 21 disposed along the length direction, aconnecting part 22 that connects the vertical wall arrays 21 disposed onthe adjacent rows, and a reinforcing portion 23 disposed on an outerwall surface side of the vertical wall array 21 that is disposed on theoutermost side. In the first embodiment, vertical wall arrays 21 on arow of the barrier 20 that is closest to the engaging element 30 arereferred to as a first row of vertical wall array 21 a, vertical wallarrays 21 on a row disposed on the outer side of the first row ofvertical wall arrays 21 a are referred to as a second row of verticalwall arrays 21 b, and vertical wall arrays 21 on a row disposed on theoutermost side are referred to as a third row of vertical wall arrays 21c.

In the left and right barriers 20, the vertical wall array 21 of eachrow includes a plurality of vertical walls 24 that are disposedintermittently at a predetermined mounting pitch in the lengthdirection, and a gap 28 is provided between two vertical walls 24 thatare adjacent in the length direction.

In this case, the mounting pitch of the vertical walls 24 disposed inthe vertical wall array 21 of each row is set to ½ of a mounting pitchin the length direction of the engaging elements 30 described later.Moreover, the vertical walls 24 of the first to third rows of verticalwall arrays 21 a to 21 c are disposed in a staggered form so that thevertical walls 24 are alternately arranged between the respective rows.In particular, between the first and second rows of vertical wall arrays21 a and 21 b and between the second and third rows of vertical wallarrays 21 b and 21 c, the vertical walls 24 are alternately disposed inthe length direction at a mounting pitch of ½ of the mounting pitch ofthe vertical wall arrays.

Further, each vertical wall 24 includes the post portion 25 erected fromthe substrate 10 and the upper surface portion 26 disposed at the upperend of the post portion 25. A height dimension (dimension in thevertical direction) of each vertical wall 24 from the substrate 10 isset to be the same as the height dimension of the engaging element 30from the substrate 10.

In the first embodiment, the post portion 25 of each of the verticalwalls 24 has a truncated pyramidal shape that is long and thin in thelength direction, and the inner wall surface and the outer wall surface(the left and right side wall surfaces) of the post portion 25 areparallel to each other. Further, the front and rear wall surfaces of thepost portion 25 are inclined in relation to the vertical direction sothat the dimension in the length direction of the post portion 25gradually decrease as it advances upward, and the post portion 25 has anapproximately trapezoidal shape when the post portion 25 is seen fromthe left and right side wall surfaces.

The upper surface portion 26 of each of the vertical walls 24 is formedso as to protrude in the length direction and the width direction morethan the upper end of the post portion 25, and the upper surface of theupper surface portion 26 is flat. Since the vertical walls 24 disposedin the vertical wall array 21 of each row have such a upper surfaceportion 26, when the molding hook and loop fastener 1 is adhered to acavity surface 77 a of a mold 77 (see FIG. 11) as will be describedlater, it is possible to increase an adhesion area between the verticalwall array 21 (the vertical wall 24) of the molding hook and loopfastener 1 and the cavity surface 77 a of the mold 77 and to improve theadhesion properties of the molding hook and loop fastener 1.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 2, when the dimension in the lengthdirection of the barrier 20 is α, and the dimension from the position ofthe inner wall surface of the first row of vertical wall arrays 21 a tothe position of the outer wall surface of the third row of vertical wallarrays 21 c is β, the sum of areas of the upper surfaces of all of thevertical walls 24 disposed in an arrangement region of the barrier 20 isset to be 39% or more and 95% or less in relation to the barrierarrangement area represented by the product between the dimension α andthe dimension β.

That is, since the sum of areas of the upper surfaces of all of thevertical walls 24 disposed in the arrangement region of the barrier 20is 39% or more, and preferably 50% or more, in relation to the barrierarrangement area of the molding hook and loop fastener 1, it is possibleto increase the adhesion properties of the molding hook and loopfastener 1 when the molding hook and loop fastener 1 is adhered to thecavity surface 77 a of the mold 77. Further, it is possible to preventan expandable resin material from entering into a formation region(hereinafter referred to as an engaging element forming region) of theengaging elements 30 when a foam body (cushion body) is expansion-moldedas will be described later.

Further, since the sum of areas of the upper surfaces of all of thevertical walls 24 disposed in the arrangement region of the barrier 20is 95% or less, and preferably 80% or less, in relation to the barrierarrangement area of the molding hook and loop fastener 1, it is possibleto appropriately secure the size of the gap 28 formed between thevertical wall arrays 21 of the barrier 20 and to prevent the flexibilityof the molding hook and loop fastener 1 from being impaired.

Furthermore, in the first embodiment, the dimension in the lengthdirection of the boundary portion 27 between the post portion 25 and theupper surface portion 26 of each vertical wall 24 in the first to thirdrows of vertical wall arrays 21 a to 21 c is set to be the same as thedimension in the length direction of the gap 28 between the boundaryportions 27 of the two vertical walls 24 that are disposed adjacently inthe vertical wall array 21 of the adjacent row, or is set to be smallerthan the dimension in the length direction of the gap 28.

That is, looking at the second row of vertical wall arrays 21 b (seeFIG. 5( c)), a dimension γ in the length direction of the boundaryportion 27 between the post portion 25 and the upper surface portion 26of each vertical wall 24 is set to be the same as the dimension in thelength direction of the gap 28 between the boundary portions 27 of twovertical walls 24 that are disposed adjacently in the length directionin the first and third rows of vertical wall arrays 21 a and 21 c thatare adjacent to the second row of vertical wall array 21 b (see FIG. 5(d)), or is set to be smaller than the dimension in the length directionof the gap 28.

Since the vertical walls 24 are erected to the above-described sizebetween the adjacent rows of vertical wall arrays 21, it is possible toform the barrier 20 while decreasing the area of portions where thevertical walls 24 disposed on the adjacent rows overlap each other inthe width direction. Thus, it is possible to further improve theflexibility of the molding hook and loop fastener 1.

Moreover, in the first embodiment, the connecting part 22 is disposed soas to connect the front end portion of the vertical wall 24 disposed inthe vertical wall array 21 of each row and the rear end portion of thevertical wall 24 disposed in the vertical wall array 21 of a rowadjacent to the row. That is, the connecting part 22 of the firstembodiment connects the front end portions of the vertical walls 24disposed in the first and third rows of vertical wall arrays 21 a and 21c and the rear end portions of the vertical walls 24 disposed in thesecond row of vertical wall arrays 21 b and connects the front endportions of the vertical walls 24 disposed in the second row of verticalwall arrays 21 b and the rear end portions of the vertical walls 24disposed in the first and third rows of vertical wall arrays 21 a and 21c. In this case, each connecting part 22 connects the corner portion(front edge) on the front wall surface side of the vertical wall 24disposed in each row and the corner portion (rear edge) on the rear wallsurface side of the vertical wall 24 disposed in rows that are adjacentto the row.

Due to such a connecting part 22, one vertical wall 24 is connected totwo vertical walls 24 that are disposed adjacently in the adjacent rowsof vertical wall arrays 21 (since the vertical wall 24 disposed in thesecond row of vertical wall arrays 21 b is connected to two verticalwalls 24 disposed in the first row of vertical wall arrays 21 a and twovertical walls 24 disposed in the third row of vertical wall arrays 21 cvia the connecting part 22, the vertical wall 24 is connected to fourvertical walls 24 in total). In particular, since the connecting part 22of the first embodiment connects the front end portion of the verticalwall 24 disposed in one row and the rear end portion of the verticalwall 24 disposed on the other row at the closest position, each verticalwall 24 is connected to the vertical walls 24 disposed in the adjacentrows of vertical wall arrays 21 by the connecting part 22 with thesmallest distance.

Further, in the first embodiment, the height dimension of eachconnecting part 22 from the substrate 10 is set to be the same as theheight dimension of the vertical wall 24 from the substrate 10. Here,the fact that the height dimension of the connecting part 22 is the sameas the height dimension of the vertical wall 24 includes a case wherethere is a small error. For example, the fact includes a case where theheight dimension of the connecting part 22 is approximately the same asthe height dimension of the vertical wall 24 and a small gap is formedbetween the cavity surface 77 a and the connecting part 22 or thevertical wall 24 such that an expandable resin material cannot passthrough the gap when the molding hook and loop fastener 1 is adhered tothe cavity surface 77 a of the mold 77.

Since the connecting parts 22 are disposed in the barrier 20 as in theabove-described manner, the outer side (that is, the side of a regionwhere the foam body is molded) of the barrier 20 and the inner side(that is, the engaging element forming region side) where the engagingelements 30 are disposed can be completely separated by the verticalwall array 21 and the connecting part 22 in a range of the heightdimension where the barrier 20 is erected. Thus, when the foam body isexpansion-molded as will be described later, it is possible to reliablyprevent the expandable resin material from entering into the inner sideof the barrier 20 from the outer side while flowing over the barrier 20.

In this case, since the respective connecting parts 22 disposed in thebarrier 20 are narrow, the connecting parts 22 are easily elasticallydeformed more than the vertical wall array 21, for example. Thus, whenthe molding hook and loop fastener 1 is curved in the vertical directionalong the length direction, the connecting parts 22 are elasticallydeformed to increase or decrease the gap 28 formed between the verticalwalls 24. As a result, it is possible to easily make the molding hookand loop fastener 1 curved or bent.

The connecting parts 22 of the first embodiment are provided between theadjacent two rows of vertical walls 24 as described above. However, inthe invention, for example, when the dimensions in the length directionand the width direction of each vertical wall are set to be larger thanthose of the first embodiment, and the adjacent two rows of verticalwalls are directly integrated, the connecting part may be formed of aportion (region) of the vertical wall, which is connected to theadjacent rows of vertical walls.

The plurality of engaging elements 30 of the first embodiment is erectedat a predetermined mounting pitch in the length direction and the widthdirection so that a predetermined coupling strength (fastening strength)is obtained between the engaging elements and a skin material covered onthe foam body (cushion body). In particular, the engaging elements 30 ofthe first embodiment are arranged in rows at a predetermined mountingpitch in the length direction, and the row of engaging elements 30 arearranged in five rows in the width direction, whereby the engagingelement forming region is formed.

Moreover, each engaging element 30 includes a rising portion 31 thatrises vertically from the upper surface of the substrate 10 and ahook-shaped engaging head 32 that extends from the upper end of therising portion 31 while being curved back and front in the lengthdirection, and forms a so-called male engaging element. Further, theheight dimension of each engaging element 30 from the substrate 10 isset to be the same as the height dimension of the vertical wall 24 fromthe substrate 10 as described above. In the invention, the shape, thedimensions, the mounting pitch, and the like of the engaging elements 30are not particularly limited but may be changed optionally.

In this case, the linear magnetic bodies 5 are disposed near the uppersurface of the substrate 10 along the rows of engaging elements 30disposed closest to the left and right barriers 20, and the left andright linear magnetic bodies 5 are held by the magnetic body holdingportions 40. The magnetic body holding portion 40 that holds the linearmagnetic body 5 includes a first holding portion 41 that is erected onthe upper surface of the substrate 10 so as to clamp the linear magneticbody 5 from the left and right sides along the length direction and asecond holding portion 42 that is disposed at the erection position ofthe engaging element 30 so as to reinforce the engaging element 30 andsurround and hold the linear magnetic body 5.

The lateral wall portion 50 of the first embodiment is disposed alongthe width direction between the second row of vertical wall arrays 21 bof the barrier 20 and the engaging element 30 and between the engagingelements 30 that are adjacent in the width direction. Further, therespective lateral wall portions 50 are connected to the engagingelements 30 that are disposed adjacently at the lower end portions (theend portions close to the substrate 10). Due to this, the lateral wallportions 50 and the engaging elements 30 are reinforced.

Further, the height dimension of each lateral wall portion 50 from thesubstrate 10 is set to be the same as the height dimension of thevertical wall 24 and the connecting portion 22 from the substrate 10 andthe height dimension of the engaging element 30 from the substrate 10.As above, in the molding hook and loop fastener 1 of the firstembodiment, the vertical wall 24, the connecting portion 22, the lateralwall portion 50 and the engaging element 30 have the same heightdimension, and the upper surfaces or the upper ends thereof are disposedon the same plane. Thus, by adhering the molding hook and loop fastener1 to the cavity surface 77 a of the mold 77 when the foam body isexpansion-molded as will be described below, it is possible to preventthe expandable resin material from entering into the engaging elementforming region from the width direction by flowing over the verticalwall array 21 and to prevent the expandable resin material from enteringfrom the length direction by flowing over the lateral wall portion 50and the engaging element 30.

Although the lateral wall portion 50 and the engaging element 30 areconnected at the lower end portions thereof as described above, theupper end portions thereof are separated with a small gap. Even when theupper end portions of the lateral wall portion 50 and the engagingelement 30 are separated from each other, since the separation gap isvery small, the expandable resin material does not enter into theengaging element forming region from the gap between the lateral wallportion 50 and the engaging element 30 when the foam body isexpansion-molded.

The flange portions 60 of the first embodiment are formed in a tongueshape so as to extend outward from the left and right side edges of thesubstrate 10, and the left and right flange portions 60 are alternatelydisposed with a predetermined mounting pitch in the length direction.Further, the upper surface of the left and right flange portions 60 aredisposed on the same plane as the upper surface of the substrate 10, anda plurality of recess portions 11 (or projecting portions) that areparallel in the length direction are formed on the lower surface side ofthe flange portions 60 similar to the lower surface side of thesubstrate 10. The left and right flange portions 60 are portions whichare embedded in the foam body when the foam body is expansion-molded andare provided to tightly fix the molding hook and loop fastener 1 to thefoam body.

The molding hook and loop fastener 1 according to the first embodimenthaving such a configuration can be manufactured using a manufacturingapparatus 70 illustrated in FIG. 6. Here, a method of manufacturing themolding hook and loop fastener 1 will be described briefly withreference to FIGS. 6 to 10.

The manufacturing apparatus 70 illustrated in FIG. 6 includes a diewheel 71 that rotates in one direction (counterclockwise direction inthe figure), a molten resin continuous extrusion nozzle 72 disposed toface a circumferential surface of the die wheel 71, a pickup roll 73disposed on a downstream side in the rotation direction of the die wheel71 more than the continuous extrusion nozzle 72 so as to face thecircumferential surface of the die wheel 71, a pair of upper and lowerpress rolls 74 and 75 disposed on a further downstream side of thepickup roll 73, a linear magnetic body supply portion (not illustrated)disposed on an upstream side in the rotation direction of the die wheel71 than the continuous extrusion nozzle 72 so as to introduce the linearmagnetic body 5 to be located between the opposing surfaces of the diewheel 71 and the continuous extrusion nozzle 72.

Molding cavities 71 a for molding the barrier 20, the engaging element30, the lateral wall portion 50, and the magnetic body holding portion40 of the molding hook and loop fastener 1 are formed on thecircumferential surface of the die wheel 71 included in themanufacturing apparatus 70. In this case, molding cavities for the leftand right barrier 20 are disposed at both side edge regions of thecircumferential surface of the die wheel 71, and molding cavities forthe engaging element 30, the lateral wall portion 50, and the magneticbody holding portion 40 are disposed in a central region of thecircumferential surface between the molding cavities for the left andright barrier 20.

A coolant circulates inside the die wheel 71, whereby the die wheel 71cools down. Further, a coolant tank (not illustrated) is disposed underthe die wheel 71 so that a portion of the lower-half portion of the diewheel 71 is immersed.

The pair of upper and lower press rolls 74 and 75 includes a heater (notillustrated) inside, and the upper and lower press rolls 74 and 75 areheated to a predetermined temperature by the heaters.

When the molding hook and loop fastener 1 of the first embodiment ismanufactured using the manufacturing apparatus 70 having the aboveconfiguration, first, a molten resin material is continuously extrudedtoward the circumferential surface of the die wheel 71 from thecontinuous extrusion nozzle 72. In this case, the die wheel 71 rotatesin one direction, the molten resin extruded to the circumferentialsurface continuously molds the substrate 10 of the molding hook and loopfastener 1 at the gap 28 between the continuous extrusion nozzle 72 andthe die wheel 71, and the barrier 20, the engaging element 30, thelateral wall portion 50, and the magnetic body holding portion 40 aresequentially molded at the respective molding cavities described above.

Further, concurrently with the extrusion of the molten resin materialfrom the continuous extrusion nozzle 72, the linear magnetic body 5 isintroduced from the linear magnetic body supply portion to the moltenresin extrusion position and is molded integrally with the molding hookand loop fastener 1. In this case, since the linear magnetic body 5 ismolded integrally with the molding hook and loop fastener 1 in a statewhere a portion thereof is exposed, two guide grooves for the linearmagnetic body 5 are continuously formed in the circumferential directionof the die wheel 71 on the circumferential surface of the die wheel 71in addition to the above-described molding cavities.

The molding hook and loop fastener 1 molded on the circumferentialsurface of the die wheel 71 is cooled, rotated counterclockwise, andsolidified while being carried on the circumferential surface of the diewheel 71. After that, the molding hook and loop fastener 1 iscontinuously torn off from the circumferential surface of the die wheel71 by the pickup roll 73.

In this case, as illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8, the molding hook and loopfastener 1 immediately after being torn off from the circumferentialsurface of the die wheel 71 by the pickup roll 73 is molded in a statewhere the upper surface portion 26 is not formed on the respectivevertical walls 24 of the barrier 20, and the height dimension of thevertical wall 24 is larger than the height dimension of the connectingportion 22, the lateral wall portion 50, and the engaging element 30.Further, the recess portion 11 is not yet formed on the lower surfaceside of the substrate 10 and the flange portion 60 of the molding hookand loop fastener 1 immediately after the tearing, and the left andright flange portions 60 are not alternately formed as illustrated inFIGS. 1 and 2 but are formed in a continuous strip shape.

Subsequently, the molding hook and loop fastener 1 torn off from thecircumferential surface of the die wheel 71 is conveyed toward the spacebetween the upper and lower press rolls 74 and 75 and is pressed fromthe vertical direction by the press rolls 74 and 75.

In this case, as illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10, the upper end portionsof the respective vertical walls 24 are pressed by the upper press roll74, whereby the upper end portions of the vertical walls 24 are pressedto be expanded in the length direction and the width direction of themolding hook and loop fastener 1 so that a flat upper surface portion 26is molded. As a result, the height dimension of each vertical wall 24can be adjusted to be the same as the height dimension of the connectingportion 22, the lateral wall portion 50, and the engaging element 30. Atthe same time, the substrate 10 and the flange portion 60 of the moldinghook and loop fastener 1 are pressed by the lower press roll 75, therecess portion 11 is formed along the length direction of the moldinghook and loop fastener 1 on the lower surface side of the substrate 10and the flange portion 60.

After that, the molding hook and loop fastener 1 having passed throughthe space between the upper and lower press rolls 74 and 75 is subjectedto such processing that the left and right flange portions 60 having astrip shape are partially cut, whereby tongue-shaped flange portions 60are formed along the length direction so as to alternate horizontally.Through the above steps, the molding hook and loop fastener 1 of thefirst embodiment having a shape as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 ismanufactured.

When the molding hook and loop fastener 1 of the first embodimentobtained in this manner is molded integrally with a cushion body (foambody) (not illustrated) of a passenger seat of an automobile, forexample, first a long continuous molding hook and loop fastener 1 is cutinto a necessary length, and the cut molding hook and loop fastener 1 ismounted on the cavity surface 77 a of the cushion body molding mold 77(see FIG. 11).

In this case, since magnets 78 are embedded in the mold 77 so as tocorrespond to the mounting positions of the molding hook and loopfastener 1, when the molding hook and loop fastener 1 is mounted so thatthe surface where the engaging elements 30 are formed faces the cavitysurface 77 a of the mold 77, the linear magnetic bodies 5 integratedwith the molding hook and loop fastener 1 are attracted by theattracting force of the magnets 78, and the molding hook and loopfastener 1 is attracted and fixed to the cavity surface 77 a of the mold77.

Further, for example, when the molding hook and loop fastener 1 isdisposed in a concave portion of a cushion body, the molding hook andloop fastener 1 need to be mounted on a flat-face projecting portion ofthe cavity surface 77 a of the mold 77 corresponding to the concaveportion of the cushion body. In this case, since the area of theportions where the vertical wall arrays 21 overlap each other in thewidth direction is small, and the connecting portions 22 that connectthe vertical wall arrays 21 are elastically deformable, the molding hookand loop fastener 1 of the first embodiment provide favorableflexibility (in particular, the bending flexibility in the verticaldirection is satisfactory).

Further, in the molding hook and loop fastener 1 of the firstembodiment, the mounting pitch of the vertical walls 24 disposed in thevertical wall array 21 of each row is set to ½ of the mounting pitch inthe length direction of the engaging elements 30 as described above, andthe dimension in the length direction of each vertical wall 24 issmaller than that of the conventional molding hook and loop fastener 1disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 3. Thus, a decrease in theflexibility of the molding hook and loop fastener 1 resulting fromformation of the vertical wall array 21 can be suppressed as much aspossible.

Further, in the molding hook and loop fastener 1, since the portion ofthe substrate 10 where the engaging elements 30 are not disposed is moreeasily bent than the portion of the substrate 10 where the engagingelements 30 are erected, by configuring the portion of the substrates 10where the engaging elements 30 are not disposed so as to be more easilybent, it is possible to improve flexibility of the molding hook and loopfastener 1.

In this respect, in the molding hook and loop fastener 1 of the firstembodiment, by setting the mounting pitch of the vertical walls 24disposed in the vertical wall array 21 of each row to ½ of the mountingpitch in the length direction of the engaging elements 30, it ispossible to form two gaps 28 between the vertical walls 24 of each rowin a region (that is, the portion of the substrate 10 where the engagingelements 30 are not disposed) between the engaging elements 30 in thelength direction of the substrate 10. Due to this, in each row ofvertical wall arrays 21, two gaps 28 that can be expanded or narrowedwhen the molding hook and loop fastener 1 is bent can be secured in theregion of the substrate 10 where the engaging elements 30 are notdisposed. Thus, it is possible to configure the molding hook and loopfastener 1 so as to be further easily bent and to further improve theflexibility of the molding hook and loop fastener 1.

That is, since the molding hook and loop fastener 1 of the firstembodiment has excellent flexibility, when the molding hook and loopfastener 1 is mounted on the cavity surface 77 a of the mold 77, thelinear magnetic body 5 disposed over the entire length direction of themolding hook and loop fastener 1 is attracted by a magnetic force. Thus,the molding hook and loop fastener 1 is attracted and fixed to thecavity surface 77 a of the mold 77, and the molding hook and loopfastener 1 can be easily curved conforming to the curved shape of theflat-face projecting portion of the cavity surface 77 a. Thus, themolding hook and loop fastener 1 can be fixed to the cavity surface 77 aof the mold 77 in a state where the upper surfaces or the upper endportions of the barrier 20, the lateral wall portion 50, and theengaging element 30 of the molding hook and loop fastener 1 are reliablyadhered to the flat-face projecting portion of the cavity surface 77 aover the entire length direction of the molding hook and loop fastener1.

Further, in the molding hook and loop fastener 1 of the firstembodiment, since the upper surface portion 26 of the vertical wall 24as described above protrudes in the length direction and the widthdirection to increase the area of the upper surface of the vertical wallarray 21, the barrier 20 of the molding hook and loop fastener 1 can bemore stably adhered to the cavity surface 77 a of the mold 77.

After the molding hook and loop fastener 1 of the first embodiment isadhered and fixed at a predetermined position of the cavity surface 77 aof the mold 77 as described above, the expandable resin material isinjected into the mold 77. As a result, the expandable resin materialexpands and flows toward the back surface (lower surface) of the moldinghook and loop fastener 1 and the peripheries of the barrier 20 and thelateral wall portion 50 to be spread over the entire cavity of the mold77. Thus, expansion molding of the cushion body (foam body) 79 isperformed as illustrated in FIG. 12.

In this case, since the molding hook and loop fastener 1 is aligned andfixed at a predetermined position by the attracting action of themagnets 78 of the mold 77, the position of the molding hook and loopfastener 1 is not changed according to the flow and the expansionpressure of the expandable resin material. Further, even when theexpandable resin material that flows within the cavity tries to enterinto the engaging element forming region from both the left and rightside edge sides of the molding hook and loop fastener 1, for example,since the vertical wall array 21 and the connecting part 22 of themolding hook and loop fastener 1 are adhered to the cavity surface 77 aof the mold 77, and the respective vertical walls 24 disposed in theleft and right barriers 20 are connected to two vertical walls 24 thatare disposed adjacently in the vertical wall arrays 21 of the adjacentrows via the connecting parts 22, it is possible to reliably prevent theexpandable resin material from entering into the engaging elementforming region by flowing over the barrier 20.

In particular, in the molding hook and loop fastener 1 of the firstembodiment, since the post portion 25 of each vertical wall 24 has atrapezoidal shape as described above, the dimension in the lengthdirection of the gap 28 formed between the adjacent vertical walls 24gradually increases toward the upper surface portion 26. Thus, when theexpandable resin material enters into the gap 28 formed in the verticalwall array 21 c of the third row, for example, the expandable resinmaterial is likely to flow from the side of the gap 28 close to thesubstrate 10 toward the upper surface portion 26 (that is, in thegradually increasing direction of the dimension in the length directionof the gap 28). As a result, the flow of the expandable resin materialcauses an action that presses the upper surface portion 26 of thevertical wall 24 toward the cavity surface 77 a of the mold 77, and theadhesion properties of allowing the barrier 20 to adhere to the cavitysurface 77 a of the mold 77 can be further increased. Thus, it ispossible to more reliably prevent the expandable resin material fromentering into the engaging element forming region.

On the other hand, when the expandable resin material flowing in thecavity tries to enter into a region (engaging element forming region)between the left and right barriers 20 from the end portions in thefront-back direction of the molding hook and loop fastener 1, forexample, the expandable resin material may be able to enter into theregion where the lateral wall portion 50 and the engaging element 30 arefirst disposed, from the front end portion or the rear end portion ofthe molding hook and loop fastener 1. However, at the position where thelateral wall portion 50 and the engaging element 30 are disposed, sincethe lateral wall portion 50 and the engaging element 30 are formedbetween the left and right barriers 20 in a state of being adhered tothe cavity surface 77 a of the mold 77, it is possible to prevent theexpandable resin material from entering into the engaging elementforming region by flowing over the lateral wall portion 50 and theengaging element 30.

After that, the expandable resin material is spread into the cavity ofthe mold 77 and is expanded and solidified, and the expansion moldingends, whereby the cushion body 79 in which the molding hook and loopfastener 1 is integrally molded to necessary portions can be obtained.In the cushion body 79 obtained in this manner, since the foam body doesnot enter into the engaging element forming region of the molding hookand loop fastener 1 which is integrally molded to the surface, it ispossible to stably secure the fastening strength of the engagingelements 30.

Thus, when the skin material is covered on the surface of the obtainedcushion body 79 and the skin material is pressed toward the mountingpositions of the molding hook and loop fastener 1 on the cushion body79, the female engaging elements 30 on the rear surface of the skinmaterial can be reliably engaged with the engaging elements 30 (maleengaging elements) of the molding hook and loop fastener 1. In thismanner, it is possible to accurately adhere the skin material along thecurved surface of the cushion body 79 while preventing the skin materialfrom floating from the cushion body 79.

In the molding hook and loop fastener 1 according to the firstembodiment described above, the lateral wall portion 50 that is disposedbetween the second row of vertical wall arrays 21 b and the engagingelement 30 and between the engaging elements 30 that are adjacent in thewidth direction is erected on the substrate 10 in an approximately cubicform. The dimension in the length direction and the width direction ofeach lateral wall portion 50 is constant from the lower end portion (theend portion close to the substrate 10) to the upper end portion.However, in the invention, the shape of the lateral wall portion 50 isnot particularly limited, and an upper surface portion that protrudes inthe length direction and the width direction may be provided to theupper end portion of the lateral wall portion 50 same as the verticalwall 24 that includes the upper surface portion 26, for example. In thisway, it is possible to increase an adhesion area between the lateralwall portion 50 of the molding hook and loop fastener 1 and the cavitysurface 77 a of the mold 77 and to further improve the adhesionproperties of the molding hook and loop fastener 1.

Second Embodiment

FIG. 13 is an enlarged view illustrating a portion of a molding hook andloop fastener according to a second embodiment at an enlarged scale.

A molding hook and loop fastener 2 according to the second embodimenthas basically the same configuration as the molding hook and loopfastener 1 according to the first embodiment described above, exceptthat the shape of left and right barriers 80 and a lateral wall portion90 are different. Thus, members and portions of the second embodimenthaving the same configurations as those of the first embodimentdescribed above will be denoted by the same reference numerals, anddescription of such reference numerals will not be provided.

The molding hook and loop fastener 2 according to the second embodimentincludes a planar substrate 10, barriers 80 provided on the uppersurfaces of the left and right side edges of the substrate 10, aplurality of engaging elements 30 disposed between the left and rightbarriers 80, a magnetic body holding portion 40 disposed in the innerside of the barriers 80, a lateral wall portion 90 disposed along thewidth direction, and a flange portion 60 provided to extend outward inthe width direction from the left and right side edges of the substrate10. Further, a linear magnetic body 5 is molded integrally with themolding hook and loop fastener 2 in a state where the linear magneticbody 5 is held by a magnetic body holding portion 40 along the lengthdirection.

In the second embodiment, each of the left and right barriers 80includes two rows of vertical wall arrays 81 disposed along the lengthdirection, a connecting part 82 that connects the vertical wall arrays81 disposed on the adjacent rows, and a reinforcing portion 83 disposedon an outer wall surface side of the second row of vertical wall array81 b that is disposed on the outer side.

In the second embodiment, the vertical wall array 81 of each rowincludes a plurality of vertical walls 84 that is disposedintermittently at a predetermined mounting pitch in the lengthdirection, and a gap 88 is provided between two vertical walls 84 thatare adjacent in the length direction. In this case, the mounting pitchof the vertical walls 84 disposed in the vertical wall array 81 of eachrow is set to ½ of the mounting pitch in the length direction of theengaging elements 30. Moreover, the vertical walls 84 are disposed in astaggered form so that the vertical walls 84 are alternately arrangedbetween the first and second rows of vertical wall arrays 81 a and 81 b.In particular, between the first row of vertical wall arrays 81 a andthe second row of vertical wall arrays 81 b, the vertical walls 84 arealternately disposed in the length direction at a mounting pitch of ½ ofthe mounting pitch of the vertical wall arrays.

Further, each vertical wall 84 includes a post portion 85 erected fromthe substrate 10 and an upper surface portion 86 disposed at an upperend of the post portion 85 so as to be formed to protrude in the lengthdirection and the width direction. A height dimension of the verticalwall 84 from the substrate 10 is set to be the same as the heightdimension of the engaging element 30 from the substrate 10. In thiscase, in the barrier 80 of the second embodiment, the sum of areas ofthe upper surfaces of all of the vertical walls 84 disposed within thearrangement region of the barrier 80 is set to be 39% or more and 95% orless in relation to the barrier arrangement area represented by theproduct between the dimension α and the dimension β same as the firstembodiment described above.

The connecting part 82 that connects the vertical wall arrays 81 of theadjacent rows is disposed so that the front end portion of the verticalwall 84 disposed in the vertical wall array 81 of each row and the rearend portion of the vertical wall 84 disposed in the vertical wall array81 of a row that is adjacent to the row are connected at the closestposition. In this case, the height dimension of each connecting part 82from the substrate 10 is set to be the same as the height dimension ofthe vertical wall 84 from the substrate 10.

The lateral wall portion 90 of the second embodiment is disposed alongthe width direction between the second row of vertical wall arrays 81 bof the barrier 80 and the engaging element 30 and the engaging elements30 that are adjacent in the width direction. Further, the respectivelateral wall portions 90 are connected to the engaging elements 30 atthe lower end portions, and the lateral wall portions 90 and theengaging elements 30 are reinforcing each other.

Further, the lateral wall portion 90 of the second embodiment includes apost portion 91 erected from the substrate 10 and an upper surfaceportion 92 disposed at the upper end of the post portion 91 so as to beformed to protrude in the length direction and the width direction. Theheight dimension of each lateral wall portion 90 from the substrate 10is set to be the same as the height dimension of the vertical wall 84from the substrate 10 and the height dimension of the engaging element30 from the substrate 10.

In this case, the post portion 91 of each lateral wall portion 90 has anapproximately cubic form. Moreover, the upper surface portion 92 of eachlateral wall portion 90 is formed to protrude in the length directionand the width direction from the upper end of the post portion 91, andthe upper surface of the upper surface portion 92 is flat. Since eachlateral wall portion 90 has such an upper surface portion 92, it ispossible to further improve the adhesion properties of the molding hookand loop fastener 2 when the molding hook and loop fastener 2 is adheredto the cavity surface 77 a of the mold 77.

The molding hook and loop fastener 2 according to the second embodimentcan be manufactured using the manufacturing apparatus 70 illustrated inFIG. 6 same as the first embodiment described above. However, in thiscase, the shape of the molding cavity formed on the circumferentialsurface of the die wheel 71 is different from that of the firstembodiment described above.

Thus, in manufacturing the molding hook and loop fastener 2 of thesecond embodiment, a molten resin material is continuously extrudedtoward the circumferential surface of the die wheel 71 from thecontinuous extrusion nozzle 72, and the resin material is cooled andsolidified on the circumferential surface of the die wheel 71. Afterthat, the molding hook and loop fastener 2 can be torn off from thecircumferential surface of the die wheel 71 by the pickup roll 73.

In this case, as illustrated in FIG. 14, the molding hook and loopfastener 2 torn off by the pickup roll 73 is molded in a state where theupper surface portions 86 and 92 are not formed on the vertical wall 84and the lateral wall portion 90, and the height dimension of thevertical wall 84 and the lateral wall portion 90 is larger than theheight dimension of the connecting part 82 and the engaging element 30.

Subsequently, the molding hook and loop fastener 2 torn off from thecircumferential surface of the die wheel 71 by the pickup roll 73 isintroduced between the upper and lower press rolls 74 and 75, and theupper end portions of the vertical wall 84 and the lateral wall portion90 are pressed by the upper press roll 74. As a result, as illustratedin FIG. 15, the upper end portions of the vertical wall 84 and thelateral wall portion 90 are broadened in the length direction and thewidth direction of the molding hook and loop fastener 2, whereby flatupper surface portions 86 and 92 are molded on the vertical wall 84 andthe lateral wall portion 90. Moreover, the height dimension of thevertical wall 84 and the lateral wall portion 90 is adjusted to be thesame as the height dimension of the connecting part 82 and the engagingelement 30. Further, the molding hook and loop fastener 2 is pressed bythe lower press roll 75, whereby the recess portion 11 is formed alongthe length direction of the molding hook and loop fastener 2 on thelower surface side of the substrate 10 and the flange portion 60.

After that, the molding hook and loop fastener 2 having passed throughthe space between the upper and lower press rolls 74 and 75 is subjectedto such processing that the left and right flange portions 60 having astrip shape are partially cut, whereby the molding hook and loopfastener 2 of the second embodiment having a shape as illustrated inFIG. 13 is obtained.

In the molding hook and loop fastener 2 of the second embodimentobtained in this manner, since the number of rows of the vertical wallarrays 81 disposed in the barrier 80 is smaller than that of the moldinghook and loop fastener 2 of the first embodiment described above, theflexibility is more favorable. Further, since the two rows of verticalwall arrays 81 disposed on the left and right barriers 80 are connectedby the connecting part 82 having the same height dimension as thevertical wall 84, it is possible to reliably prevent the expandableresin material from entering the engaging element forming region byflowing over the barrier 80 when a cushion body is expansion-molded, forexample. Thus, the molding hook and loop fastener 2 that is integrallymolded to the expansion-molded cushion body can stably secure theinherent fastening strength of the engaging elements 30.

DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

-   -   1: MOLDING HOOK AND LOOP FASTENER    -   2: MOLDING HOOK AND LOOP FASTENER    -   5: LINEAR MAGNETIC BODY    -   10: SUBSTRATE    -   11: RECESS PORTION    -   20: BARRIER    -   21: VERTICAL WALL ARRAY    -   21 a: FIRST ROW OF VERTICAL WALL ARRAYS    -   21 b: SECOND ROW OF VERTICAL WALL ARRAYS    -   21 c: THIRD ROW OF VERTICAL WALL ARRAYS    -   22: CONNECTING PART    -   23: REINFORCING PORTION    -   24: VERTICAL WALL    -   25: POST PORTION    -   26: UPPER SURFACE PORTION    -   27: BOUNDARY PORTION    -   28: GAP    -   30: ENGAGING ELEMENT    -   31: RISING PORTION    -   32: ENGAGING HEAD    -   40: MAGNETIC BODY HOLDING PORTION    -   41: FIRST HOLDING PORTION    -   42: SECOND HOLDING PORTION    -   50: LATERAL WALL PORTION    -   60: FLANGE PORTION    -   70: MANUFACTURING APPARATUS    -   71: DIE WHEEL    -   71 a: MOLDING CAVITY    -   72: CONTINUOUS EXTRUSION NOZZLE    -   73: PICKUP ROLL    -   74: UPPER PRESS ROLL    -   75: LOWER PRESS ROLL    -   77: MOLD    -   77 a: CAVITY SURFACE    -   78: MAGNET    -   79: CUSHION BODY (FOAM BODY)    -   80: BARRIER    -   81: VERTICAL WALL ARRAY    -   81 a: FIRST ROW OF VERTICAL WALL ARRAYS    -   81 b: SECOND ROW OF VERTICAL WALL ARRAYS    -   82: CONNECTING PART    -   83: REINFORCING PORTION    -   84: VERTICAL WALL    -   85: POST PORTION    -   86: UPPER SURFACE PORTION    -   88: GAP    -   90: LATERAL WALL PORTION    -   91: POST PORTION    -   92: UPPER SURFACE PORTION

1. A method for manufacturing a molding hook and loop fastener which ismolded integrally with a foam body at the same time as molding of thefoam body, including: a planar substrate made from a thermoplastic resinincluding a first surface and a second surface opposite to the firstsurface; barriers erected on the first surface near left and right sideedges along a length direction of the substrate; and a plurality ofengaging elements disposed between the left and right barriers, wherein:a molten resin is poured toward a die wheel in which molding cavitiesare provided on a circumferential surface for molding at least thebarriers and the engaging elements to form the substrate as well as thebarriers and the engaging element on the circumferential surface of thedie wheel, the molded hook and loop fastener having the moldedsubstrate, barriers and engaging elements is teared off from thecircumferential surface of the die wheel, and upper end portions of therespective barriers of the teared molded fastener are pressed with apress roll to form a flat upper surface portion on the barriers.
 2. Themethod for manufacturing a molding hook and loop fastener according toclaim 1, wherein the press roll is heated.
 3. The method formanufacturing a molding hook and loop fastener according to claim 1wherein when the molding hook and loop fastener is molded on thecircumferential surface of the die wheel, a height dimension of thebarrier is larger than a height dimension of the engaging element. 4.The method for manufacturing a molding hook and loop fastener accordingto claim 3, wherein a height dimension of the upper surface portion ofthe barrier which is pressed with the press roll from the substrate isas a height dimension of the engaging element from the substrate.
 5. Themethod for manufacturing a molding hook and loop fastener according toclaim 4, wherein each of the barriers has at least two rows of verticalwall arrays.
 6. The method for manufacturing a molding hook and loopfastener according to claim 5, wherein the vertical wall array of eachrow includes a plurality of vertical walls that are disposedintermittently in the length direction and are alternately disposedbetween adjacent vertical wall arrays.
 7. The method for manufacturing amolding hook and loop fastener according to claim 1, wherein the uppersurface portion is formed so as to protrude at least in a widthdirection of the substrate more than an upper end of a post portionerected from the substrate in each vertical wall.
 8. The method formanufacturing a molding hook and loop fastener according to claim 6,wherein the upper surface portion is formed so as to protrude in alength direction and a width direction of the substrate more than anupper end of a post portion erected from the substrate in each verticalwall.
 9. The method for manufacturing a molding hook and loop fasteneraccording to claim 4, wherein the sum of areas of upper surfaces of allof the vertical walls included in the barriers is set to be from 39% to95% in relation to a barrier arrangement area that is calculated by theproduct between a dimension in the length direction of the barrier and adimension from an inner wall surface of the vertical wall array of thebarrier, disposed closest to the engaging element to an outer wallsurface of the vertical wall array disposed on an outermost side. 10.The method for manufacturing a molding hook and loop fastener accordingto claim 1, wherein molding cavities are provided on the circumferentialsurface of the die wheel for molding lateral wall portions disposedalong a width direction on the inside of the barrier in the molded hookand loop fastener, and the lateral wall portions are molded when thesubstrate is molded, and the upper end portions of the lateral wallportions of the molded hook and loop fastener which is teared off fromthe circumferential surface of the die wheel is pressed with a rollpress to form the flat upper surface portion on the lateral wallportions.
 11. The method for manufacturing a molding hook and loopfastener according to claim 10, wherein the engaging elements aredisposed at a predetermined pitch in a width direction of the substrate,lateral wall portions are disposed between the barrier and the engagingelements and between the engaging elements that are adjacent in thewidth direction, and upper surfaces of the vertical wall array aredisposed on the same plane as upper surfaces of the lateral wallportion.
 12. A method for manufacturing a molding hook and loop fastenerwhich is molded integrally with a foam body at the same time as moldingof the foam body, including: a planar substrate made from athermoplastic resin including a first surface and a second surfaceopposite to the first surface; barriers erected on the first surfacenear left and right side edges along a length direction of thesubstrate; a plurality of engaging elements disposed between the leftand right barriers; and lateral wall portions disposed along a widthdirection on the inside of the barriers, wherein: a molten resin ispoured toward a die wheel in which molding cavities are provided on thecircumferential surface for molding at least the lateral wall portionsand the engaging elements to form the substrate as well as the lateralwall portions and the engaging element, the molded hook and loopfastener having the molded substrate, lateral wall portions and engagingelements are teared off from the circumferential surface of the diewheel, and upper end portions of the lateral wall portions of the moldedhook and loop fastener which is teared off with a press roll to form aflat upper surface portion on the lateral wall portions.
 13. The methodfor manufacturing a molding hook and loop fastener according to claim12, wherein the press roll is heated.
 14. The method for manufacturing amolding hook and loop fastener according to claim 12 wherein when themolding hook and loop fastener is molded on the circumferential surfaceof the die wheel, a height dimension of the lateral wall portions islarger than a height dimension of the engaging element.
 15. The methodfor manufacturing a molding hook and loop fastener according to claim14, wherein a height dimension of the upper surface portion of thelateral wall portions which is pressed with the press roll from thesubstrate is the same as a height dimension of the engaging element fromthe substrate.
 16. The method for manufacturing a molding hook and loopfastener according to claim 12, wherein molding cavities are provided onthe circumferential surface of the die wheel for molding the barriers inthe molded hook and loop fastener to integrally mold the barriers and aplurality of the engaging elements on the substrate; and upper endportions of the barriers in the molded hook and loop fastener which isteared off from the circumferential surface of the die wheel are pressedwith a press roll to form flat upper surface portions in the lateralwall portions.
 17. The method for manufacturing a molding hook and loopfastener according to claim 16, wherein the engaging elements aredisposed at a predetermined pitch in a width direction of the substrate,the lateral wall portions are disposed between the barriers and theengaging elements and between the engaging elements that are adjacent inthe width direction, and upper surfaces of the barriers are disposed onthe same plane as upper surfaces of the lateral wall portions.